academic steroid
n.— «When she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a sophomore at UC Berkeley, Ashley welcomed her prescription for the amphetamine Adderall. Juggling a full load of classes with athletic pursuits and a busy social life, she seemed an ideal candidate for a drug that could help her focus on her schoolwork. […] A 2006 Northeastern University study found misuse of so-called “Academic Steroids” is most prevalent at private colleges on the East Coast.» —“More students using ‘academic steroids’ despite risks, ethical questions” by Kevin Leahy, Kristen Brophy, Zaheer Cassim Inside Bay Area (California) June 21, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha’s savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and predicted the effects of human activity on...